RN Case Manager...........

I have only done the kind of case managing involved with being the primary nurse on a single case or the nurse who makes certain that everything is followed up on for the client and communicates everything important to the nurse supervisor and Director of Clinical Services.

The position that I believe you are describing I have found to be sorely lacking in several of the agencies that I have worked for. In other words, to put it bluntly, our nursing supervisors (or case managers) do not follow up on matters of importance. Not everything can be handled at the lowest rung of the ladder, although most nurses try to keep everything straight. Sometimes we need that voice of authority from the office. The best advice I could give you would be to start out by getting the charts of all the clients that you will be responsible for, writing down the bare essentials about each, write down the names of the nurses working the cases, and make home visits to introduce yourself to the clients and their families as soon as possible. Leave your business card and assure them that you are there to help resolve any issues. Ask them what they are having problems with at the present time and make note of this. You might want to hold an initial case conference for each client, one at a time, with mandatory attendance from the nurses on the case and get input from these nurses. You can take this time to let the nurses know what your expectations are and where you expect to fill in. Offer to be a resource for any of their problems. That's about what I would expect to do if I were ever to get a job as a case manager. Perhaps you can get responses from persons who are already filling that function at agencies. Good luck and hope you like the job.